


I Miss You

by kalirush



Category: Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Female Friendship, Gen, Letter, Reading in between the lines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 11:39:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18093590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalirush/pseuds/kalirush
Summary: In between the lines of Kasia's letter at the end of the book.





	I Miss You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Morvidra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morvidra/gifts).



_-Marisha asked if she could come and play at Natalya’s house again_. 

Kasia blotted the pen and set it carefully down on the desk. She had to do nearly everything carefully, these days. It was almost habit now.

She looked at the page, uncertain what else to say.

_Is the Dragon still hiding from you?_ she didn’t ask. She didn’t like Sarkan, mostly, and she didn’t think much of him as a match for Nieshka. She had gained a different perspective on him since everything, but he’d always be the spectre of her childhood, terror and purpose and hope combined. But she could also tell how much Nieshka missed him, for all she sounded happy in her letters, and that made her want to find him and frogmarch him back to the Valley to apologize. These were conflicting positions, she recognized, but no one said she had to be consistent. 

_I still hear the Wood in my sleep, on the bad nights_ , she didn’t say. They were just dreams. The wood-queen was gone, and the rage of the Wood was stilled. Nieshka’s letters were full of such love for the place that Kasia could almost see the dappled leaves, smell the sap and the fruit and the sun-warmed grass. Part of Kasia longed to be in the shadow of the Wood again herself. The rest of her was glad that she was so far away. Nieshka wouldn’t- couldn’t- understand. Kasia might bring the children back, but not until the Wood was sleeping under a layer of snow. Maybe she’d never return to stay, only come for a time and leave again. Maybe someday she’d walk with Nieshka under those branches, harvest that fruit. Still, no need to worry Nieshka in the meantime.

_Sometimes, I’m not sure how much of me is person and how much is tree_ , she didn’t say, speaking of not worrying Nieshka. There was a lot she liked about her new body: it was a glorious thing to be strong, to be tough, to have nothing to fear from most men. But she got tired of having to be careful every moment, lest she hurt someone or break something. She looked in the mirror, and she didn’t quite recognize her own face. And she almost missed having the occasional pimple. Almost.

She picked up the pen again, dipped it into the ink. _I miss you_ , she wrote. It was true, and the rest could wait. 

[](https://66.media.tumblr.com/f0b68b16773b28d1645a4bf42b1ddd02/tumblr_ovwyqhLLTb1snkdsho1_1280.jpg)


End file.
